Asian American Students Still Struggling With Burden of Expectations

When Amy Chua published “The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother ” in 2011, a book about how she raised two high-achieving daughters, people took notice. Chua is Chinese American and both daughters were on their way to Harvard, with an impressive roster of activities that included excelling at piano and violin.

Chua described how she built a household run on strict discipline and unyielding, sky-high expectations, what she called traditional Chinese parenting techniques. An excerpt from the book ran in The Wall Street Journal under a blunt headline that made clear the implications, “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior. ”

And it wasn’t just the Chinese who were following this thinking. These parenting attitudes are ingrained in many Asian cultures. Chua’s book was viewed as something of a “how to” guide — a peek into ingredients behind the secret sauce of success among many Asian American students. Chua herself was proof that the process worked. Raised by Chinese immigrants, she rose to become a professor at Yale Law School.

But increasing attention is being paid to the flipside of that success.

Margaret Yee, a high school teacher in the San Francisco area, said she sees Asian American students struggle under the weight of expectations. Their parents expect them to excel. And the students expect it of themselves, too.

“It comes with a huge price,” Yee said.

Yee said some Asian students see only one path forward. They must get the best grades. They need to get the highest honors. They have to do all these things to gain acceptance into the most elite colleges, where the whole process starts all over again.